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Hoffman Symbolism

Decent Essays

Sampling Symbols Symbols are the atomic essence of culture. Language is the most obvious system of symbols we use to communicate, but almost everything we do carries symbolic weight. The way you dress could symbolically communicate to others that you are a fan of punk music or that you’re affiliated with gangs. Everything is symbolic in some shape or form. Everyday cultural norms such as a nations flag design or the logo of a famous shoe brand can be dissected and unraveled to reveal deep histories that inform us as to why we think and act the way we do. Art is the inverse of language in regards to its use of symbols, rather than a system dictated by grammatical structures and conjugations, art breaks down the clunky rules of language …show more content…

This reality moves many mainstream filmmakers to choose universal symbols to reach the widest possible audiences. While this may seem like a disappointing obstruction in the creative freedom of filmmakers, it doesn’t stop them from adding their personal symbols throughout the film, albeit subtly. Filmmakers such as Stanley Kubrick and Ingmar Bergman overloaded their films with deft symbolic imagery. Kubrick created dense visual Matryoshka dolls of films, characters represented human constructs and the classical music he habitually used had strategic purpose, taking account that piece of music’s history to add subtle undertones of historical reference. Ingmar Bergman uses water repeatedly throughout such films as “winter light” where the rushing, sparkling stream contrasts with the still body of a man who has killed himself. A movie like Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O’Bannon, at first look appears to be about the will of a strong heroine soldier in the face of a devastating alien adversary. But look a little closer and you will start noticing that this film is filled with symbolic imagery that embodies birth and rape. The alien’s form is phallic in nature, its head is essentially a penis, down to the way it kills its victims, it’s stabbing second mouth …show more content…

Instead he uses his influences to generate a visual buffet of culture and history. Forcing you to engage his films in through alternative lens. More akin to solving a crossword puzzle then watching voyeuristically. Crossword puzzle is a bit understated; The Cremaster Cycle is like a crossword coming to life, layering its hints and clues on top of each other to create new depths. Starting with the title, the cremaster is the muscle that raises and lowers the testicles. Barney uses the descent of the cremaster muscle to represent the inevitable influence of male gender. The Cycle is viewed in 5 parts, with a run time of about 10 hours, and viewed out of order, Cremaster 4, coming out first in 1994. Each film representing the different stages of descent for the cremaster muscle; starting with undifferentiated sex in Cremaster 1 and ending with the total descencion of the cremaster muscle in Cremaster 5, at which point maleness can no longer be denied. The visual pastiche that comes to fruition dazzles the eye with eccentric flair. In Cremaster 2, Barney interpolates the story of Gary Gilmore, a Mormon man who killed a gas station attendant and motel clerk in 1976, and instead of fighting for his life in appeal court, he demanded to be executed as a blood atonement to his Mormon faith. Barney wove this story of desolate destiny into

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